Beyond Love and Grief
by Tomoe2
Summary: We all know Kenshin's master, Hiko Seijuro. But how did he come to be Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's 13th Hiko Seijuro? This story explores his life before his path crossed with Kenshin's.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 _Hida Province_

 _Sixth year of Tenpo_

 _Kannazuki_

Suo wiped her brow with the back of her hand. She looked eagerly at the midwife who washed her crying newborn in the birthing tub.

"Auntie. Is it a boy?" she asked.

The older woman grunted. The mother sighed and leaned back against the wall. She closed her eyes. A boy, finally. She felt the fatigue of the last few hours wash away. The gods had finally answered their prayers.

She heard a soft giggle and opened her eyes to see her two daughters peeking through the door. She gestured for them to come in. Her youngest kicked off her waraji and skipped to the midwife to see her brother. The eldest took off her own waraji then tidied hers and sister's before climbing up to join her mother.

"Kakama, is it another bi?

Suo wiped her legs with the rag her daughter had handed her. She shook her head with a smile.

"No, Aki-chan. It's not a girl. It's a boy."

The nine year old child's eye gleamed with joy.

"Gote is going to be so happy!" she exclaimed. She clapped her hands.

Suo nodded as she lowered the hem of her well-worn yukata, checking for stains. This birth had been much easier than the last one. She threw a glance at her youngest daughter, Chiyo. The three year old fussed over her brother while the midwife tried to swaddle him. She longed to hold him but there was work to be done. She slowly walked to the edge of the platform and sat down to tie her waraji. Aki copied her mother. Finally, she was handed her newborn son.

He had stopped crying but his tiny round face was still red and wrinkly. Such a big and healthy boy, she thought.

"Kakama, will he always be that ugly?" asked Chiyo with concern.

"I think he looks just like you," replied Aki, blowing her sister a raspberry.

Suo laughed.

"I think he looks perfect," she said softly.

"It was a good birth. He is strong," said the midwife as she handed the mother an obi.

Suo nodded and set about to secure her child on her back. Aki helped. The woman stood up and took a few tentative steps. A bit wobbly but strong enough. The old woman handed her a bamboo cup with a dark pungent liquid.

"Do I have to, auntie?" asked the mother.

The old woman shook her head.

"Why ask if you're going to drink it anyway?" she asked.

Suo gulped down the drink and grimaced. Chiyo laughed.

"Let's go introduce your baby brother to gote."

The mid-afternoon sun neared the ridge of the mountains, threatening to plunge the valley in the darkness soon. Suo breathe the cool autumn air. She looked at their little plot of land with love. Now that she had a son, now that they had an heir, the family name would live on. When their daughters got married and moved away, there would still be someone to till the earth and keep it alive. She could feel his warmth against her back. His little beating heart echoed hers. She squeeze her daughters' hands when her husband came into view. The girls let go of her and ran to their father bent over in the field, cutting rice stalks with a sharp kama. He stood straight when he heard their voices. She saw his silhouette against the light. His rounded back told the story of his labor. Nevertheless, he greeted his daughters with kindness, patting them on the head affectionately. They met at the edge of the field.

"Is it another…?" he asked anxiously.

She smiled and shook her head.

"It's a boy."

Motoyoshi beamed, suddenly revived by the good news. She turned around to show him his son. She felt his hand caressing the top of the baby's head.

"Gote! What will we call him?" asked Aki.

"Yes! Yes! What is his name?" topped Chiyo.

"We can't name him now," chided Suo. "We need to wait six days. What if we name him and the gods get angry?"

Aki and Chiyo pouted. Motoyoshi pretended to think. He crouched next to his girls.

"Can you keep a secret?" he asked.

They nodded vigorously, their face solemn.

"I think we will call him...Sarumaro ."

Suo smiled. Sarumaro. How fitting for her son born in the year of the monkey. She swiftly undid the obi and cradled her child to her chest. The newborn had fallen asleep. She looked at his delicate feature in the golden light of this late autumn afternoon.

"Welcome to the world, Ito Sarumaro."

 **NOTES**

Japanese boys were given childhood names that they changed when they came of age. Those names were called yomyo (幼名). We don't know what Seijuro's yomyo was, but I decided to go with Sarumaro because he was born in 1836.

Hida Province was what is now the northern mountainous area of Gifu prefecture.

I've peppered the text with Hida dialect words, which is still spoken today in some areas. Chances are it would have been slightly different back then but I only have modern sources to work with.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Hida Province

Twelfth Year of Tenpo

Fumizuki

Cicada's chirped loudly in the noon sun. Sarumaro clung to the door frame with his small hand. He shifted from one bare foot to the other, hoping it would suffice to keep his little sister on his back from crying. He peered at his mother through the spaces of the threadbare noren flaps. She lay in her futon, covered with heavy blankets despite the crushing heat. By the bed, baby Auntie spoke in hushed tones to Aki who had on her own back their new sister. The fifteen year old girl wiped her face with her hand, unable to hold back tears but trying hard to maintain her composure. A shadow suddenly fell over Sarumaro. He braced his neck, expecting the usual punch in the back of the head from Chiyo. It didn't come.

"Kakama will die."

She'd been repeating this whenever she'd found him alone. A new form of torture, much more painful than her usual. He'd cried at first, then yelled; their mother was going to be alright, it was just a fever! But then, when he'd seen Chiyo and Aki cry in each others arms, he'd started to be very afraid. He didn't remember enough of Tomemaru's birth to know if this was just nature's way, but the worried look on his father's face was enough to confirm that something was amiss.

Not getting the response she'd wanted, Chiyo stepped away from her brother and headed back to the field to help her father. His younger brother started to fuss. Sarumaro linked his hands under the child and shifted him up, readjusting the obi. He took one last peek inside and, confirming that nothing had changed, he decided to go walk along the river. Maybe if he caught a fish, he could feed it to his mother and make her feel better.

xxx

It was almost dawn when they took her away. She was completely wrapped in a white shroud. Sarumaro worried that she wouldn't be able to breathe. He wanted to uncover her face. Aki, the crying babe in one arm, grabbed his wrist and held him back. In Chiyo's arms, Tomemaru slept, oblivious to the solemn scene. The children watched as some men of the village helped their father load their mother on a cart. Motoyoshi's face was a stone mask. It scared Sarumaro. He knew his father's many faces, from anger to glee, but this one was new. He didn't like it. The man gave his oldest daughter instructions then turned around. The cart wheels groaned as the men pushed it. They watched until the cart was out of view. The new baby was still crying. It had been six days now; would the gods get angry if they didn't name her?

He wouldn't remember much of what had followed. His brain would chose to erase the memory of Aki explaining to him that Kakama was gone, just like Tama, the white cat they had kept for a few months and found dead one morning. He would not remember running away in tears and getting lost in the woods, causing his father even more grief. However the image of his sisters washing their mother's bloodstain futon would stay with him all his life. He would never forget how their sobs had echoed in the courtyard.

NOTE

Sorry about the short chapters; they will get longer as Samumaro/Hiko ages. Thank you for your patience!


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